


The Choice

by LightOfLanayru



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Grief, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Panic Attacks, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26550652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightOfLanayru/pseuds/LightOfLanayru
Summary: While Nines is away getting upgraded at Cyberlife towers, Gavin, Tina, and a new colleague Andrew must go to an abandoned building where several Androids are hiding. These Androids have been killing people at random and the team must investigate the scene to gather intel on the situation. However, when they get there, Gavin is forced to make a decision that no one should ever have to make...
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 34
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently I had this hidden away in my archives for a year! It's like finding a little treasure. I hope you all enjoy this fic!

  
It was around six in the morning, the sun obscured just beyond the horizon. The snowy clouds cast a grey light over the landscape giving everything a dull glow and an eerie vibe. The cold seemed to sneak it's way straight to the bones of anyone who ventured out of their houses. Gavin shoved his hands into his pockets and let out a deep breath letting the icy vapor slip past his lips. He had his back pressed up against the brick wall on the quiet side of the precinct where only a few cars passed every now and again. A few street lamps still flickered above, their sensors not quite sensitive enough to pick up the faint light of day. As much as Gavin hated the cold, he dreaded going inside the precinct as well. It would be the first day in a while that he'd been working without Nines, and as much as a pain in the ass that Android was, he made the work load a hell of a lot easier. Turns out his computer head was actually good for something. He tilted his head back until it tapped against the wall and he just stared at the horizon line. He knew he didn't have much longer until he had to go in, lest he be yelled at or one of them sent Connor to check up on him. He did not need that right now.

The moment his fingers began feeling stiff, he decided it would be best to enter the precinct now if he cherished his hands enough. He was an absolute idiot for not bringing gloves, but mornings like these he found himself to be a bit forgetful, especially when he was unable to get his morning coffee before getting to work, and damn if that didn't sound good right about now.  
The moment he pushed through the front doors, his hands began to defrost and he pulled out his phone. Nothing from Nines. Of course not, what was he thinking. He'd just been dropped off at Cyberlife less than an hour ago for upgrades and a few repairs. They probably had him in stasis and up on the rig with a peg in his back like some kind of doll. Gavin cringed at the thought as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. They better not mess him up.

The first thing that caught his eye was Connor sitting on Hank's desk, hands folded in his lap and legs swaying forwards and back lightly. There was no sign of Hank anywhere. Which wasn't surprising. The older detective wasn't exactly known for his punctuality. Gavin tried to slink into the break room without being spotted, but just as he thought he'd been undetected, Connor's cheery voice rang through his ears, and honestly? He shouldn't be so damned annoyed with it, but here he was, already groaning under his breath.

"Hello, Detective." Connor said and Gavin turned around to face the Android that was a few inches taller than him. "You're precisely five minutes and twenty seven seconds late, where have you been? Fowler will most likely be inquiring about-"

"Do you know how to mind your own damn business?" Gavin huffed, and tried his best to like pissed off, but in reality he was just tired and worried. Connor was able to easily pick up on what he was actually feeling quite easily.

"Forgive me, I thought you would be interested in knowing to better gauge your time in the future to be exceptionally more prompt." Connor tilted his head to the side. "If it makes you feel any better, Hank is fifteen minutes and thirty eight seconds late."

"Gee, thanks." Gavin rolled his eyes and turned away from the Android, grabbing a styrofoam cup and smacking it under the coffee dispenser before pressing a small blue button on the top of the machine.

"You're welcome, Detective Reed." Connor gave him a kind nod before turning away. "Please let me know if you require any of my assistance. If you need me you will know where to find me." He paused and turned back towards Gavin. "It almost slipped my memory. I was told to tell you you will be needed in Fowler's office in fifteen minutes, along with officer Chen." Gavin barely acknowledge him and the Android quickly disappeared to God knows where. Only to reappear when best to annoy him he presumed.

The coffee finally dispensed into the cup and he was quick to put the lid on it. No cream, no sugar, just plain black coffee. Things to lighten the taste of pure caffeine are for cowards. However, it would be best to give it a few minutes to cool unless he wanted to scald everything from his tips to his stomach. He sat down at his desk and turned on his computer, eyes glancing down at the time on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. He had ten minutes before he had to meet with Fowler. For what he had absolutely no idea. If it had to do with an assload of work he was just going to leave for the day and wait for Nines to get done with his Cyberlife visit.

He looked across the room to see that Hank had finally showed up. He looked exhausted as if he had stayed up at night and by the look on his face, he was being scolded by Connor for being more than twenty minutes late. Gavin didn't pay too much attention to them, but instead turned his eyes back towards his computer screen. There were three different cases he was working on solving, but all three of them seemed to have something missing. A key puzzle piece and it could possible bring all of them together. He opened up the first file.

There had been a growing number of violent events and attacks that were being led by Androids against humans and the precinct had yet to draw the line between them. They were spontaneous around Detroit without warning Android's would strike, often killing their victims before the poor humans knew what was going on. Which was definitely another reason Gavin felt a bit nervous about not having Nines with him today. The RK900 would be able to detect danger within a microsecond and bring which ever Android into submission before they even had a chance to lay a hand on anyone. He did find that comforting, but without his personal body guard, he felt a bit vulnerable.

"Reed!" A voice boomed through the office and broke Gavin out of his train of thought, startling him quite a bit."My office, now!" Fowler yelled and Gavin's eyes flickered to the time. It was two minutes past when he was supposed to be in the office. He'd been distracted by his own damn thoughts. He cursed under his breath as he stood, grabbing his coffee with one hand and turning off his computer monitor with the other. He kicked his chair in with one foot and leisurely made his way towards the glass wall office that sat at the heart of the station. Gavin could already see that his colleague, Tina Chen was in their ready and at attention for what ever the 'boss' had to say. He squinted. There was someone else in there, and Gavin couldn't recognize who it was. Were they new? They had to be...

"There you are, Reed." Fowler's voice chimed with a hint of malice. "You have no reason to be late, you were only about fifty feet from my office." He paused. "Don't let it happen again."

Gavin nodded and let the light glass door flow shut behind him.

"Reed, this is Andrew Marks, He's going to be accompanying you on tonight's mission." Fowler told him as he sat behind his desk to look at the three. "He's from our neighboring precinct. We've called him over due to his skills in these kind of missions. I believe that he will be able to provide immense help in figuring out this case."

Gavin eyed Andrew for a moment, he was a bit taller, more muscle and had an intimidating buzz cut and tanned skin. He looked like he'd been in the army, but Gavin couldn't quite push past himself to trust him. If this guy was supposed to be so damn good at what he does, how come Gavin had never heard of him before? "What mission?" He finally snapped back to reality, eyes darting back to Fowler.

"We've gotten news on an Android hideout. We think they might be part of the group that's been hunting down humans, and I-" Fowler began, but Gavin was quick to interrupt him by waving both his hands.

"First of all, you're sending us into the lions den?" He questioned angrily. "Second of all, I'm not going two steps closer to that place without Nines. You know I don't do missions without him."

"Well today you do." Fowler stood and placed his hands on his desk. "People are going to die if we don't do something about this as soon as possible. Do you understand that?" His voice was growing more and more irritated. "It's a small hideout, you won't be up against very many. I need the three of you to get in there and get intel about them so we know what the hell we're up against." He paused for a moment. "Are they isolated incidents? Is it part of a larger organization? We need to know these things. With them being Androids their a lot smarter about covering their data trails."

"With all due respect." Andrew piped up. "If Reed doesn't believe he has what it takes to accomplish this mission. I have no doubt me and Miss Chen can do it without him." His voice was strong and firm and it pissed Gavin off to no end.

"Wait a second!" Gavin snapped back at Andrew and Tina raised her eyebrows at him. "This isn't about me believing I have what it takes to finish the mission, it has to do with having our asses handed to us by a bunch of Androids!"

"We head out at six in the evening, Gavin. Either come with us or not." Tina told him gently. "We could really use your help. Or I could at least."

Gavin paused for a few moments, eyes meeting with Fowler, Andrew, then back to Tina. "Fine." He finally stated. "I'll go." He paused and let out a hesitant breath. "I'll do it." He pointed a finger towards Andrew. "But don't think for a second I'm going to be covering your ass if you fuck this up."

Andrew shot back a glare, head tilted up slightly in a manner that could only be read as you are beneath me. Gavin scrunched his nose up at the man before turning back towards Fowler.

"Are we going to have any sort of backup? Or are we just running in there like a bunch of chickens to the slaughter block?" Gavin paused as he crossed his arms, swaying side to side ever so slightly. "Any Android backup for that matter? Don't you think It would be helpful to have R2-D2 out there come with us?" He lifted a finger to point at Connor who was leaning up against the wall near Hank's desk.

"We don't know what models these Androids are. They might be able to pick up radio waves, especially those from other Androids." Tina piped in. "That's the reason we're the only ones to go in. If there's more then we risk becoming more noticeable."

Gavin paused for a few moments as he looked towards the ground. Eyebrows furrowing in distress. "So what the hell's that supposed to mean? We can't bring any radios with us? How are we supposed to call for backup if we don't have anything to signal anyone with?" His voice was raising, becoming more and more aggravated, hostility building up in his veins. "Can't we just-" Gavin huffed. "fuck it, I don't know! Turn off his fuckin' blue tooth? That'll work, right?"

Fowler let out a huff and rested his head into his hand. "I don't know enough about this Android shit to even answer that question, Reed." He stood from his desk. "Just. Go talk to Lieutenant Hank, and Connor." He paused. "What ever you do. Be here at 6 PM sharp and if you're late..." Fowler shook his head side to side. "Do not be late for this."

"Yeah. Got it."


	2. Chapter 2

  
Before another word was able to reach his ear, the detective was already swinging the heavy glass door behind him. It irritated him, no, _infuriated_ him that they would think about sending a couple of humans all by themselves into a group of Androids. With absolutely no idea of their kind nor their capabilities. Was he going to get his ass handed to him the moment he walked in the door? Were they anything like Nines? An RK900 with the ability to take down ten men? God he hoped not. Why today of all days did his RK900 have to go into Cyberlife? Couldn't he have just postponed his updates just like a computer? Probably not. Damn he just needed to go outside and take a smoke, but he needed to talk with Hank and Connor before he did anything else. First priority unfortunately.

Gavin placed both palms on the table and leaned forwards to the two. Without Even looking up from his computer or ceasing his typing Hank spoke. "What do you want Reed? If you're here to antagonize us then please just go on your way."

"Not today, old man." Gavin rolled his eyes. "Look, I need some info on Androids and I don't want to spend all day looking around for another Tin Can to talk to."

Hank peered an eye up at Gavin, lifting a brow.

"What is it that you would like to know, Detective?" Connor questioned in his cool collected voice, eyeing Gavin. His stress level was noticeably elevated, stirring slight concern in the Android. "You seem rather distressed. Is this anything to do with Nines absence, if it's-"

"No no, It's not that, it's just..." He paused, running a hand through his hair. "We're going to investigate an Android hideout tonight." Gavin's voice lowered considerably and he leaned forwards just a tad bit more. "I need to know..." He paused. "Can Androids, you know..." He gestured vaguely. "Sense when there are other Androids around them?"

"Not initially, no." Connor responded slowly. "But I suppose it could be possible." The Android tilted his head, squinting his eyes as his LED swirled yellow a few times." He paused for a brief moment. "If they were able to rewire their communication devices to resemble that of a radio rather than a computer, then yes, it could be possible." He gave a slight nod.

Ah, yes, perfect sense. "Damn it." Gavin muttered under his breath as he struck the table with an open palm. "Would you or Nines be able to turn that function off? Go undetected if you didn't want to be seen or heard from?"

"Yes, of course. It's simply a matter of disabling outer communications. You would have to leave your walkie talkies as well, they would be able to pick up on them if your suspicions are correct." Connor replied with a sideways smirk. "I would highly suggest you wait until RK900's return before you head out on this mission. I will be unable to accompany you due to investigation work me and Hank must attend to."

"I can't do that." Gavin let his hands slide away from the desk and fall limply to his side as he eyes the ceiling above him. "Fowler said there 'isn't enough time'." He did airquotes. "I'd bail the hell out of this if this dickwad Andrew wasn't trying to show me up acting all high and mighty."

Connor quirked his head once more. "If I'm not mistaken you've only just met Andrew, you hardly know anything about him."

"Well, I know enough about him to know I don't like him, and I don't like the fact that we're being sent into the lions den without our own." Gavin paused, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at Hank. "It just..." He shook his head. "It doesn't feel right. I can't explain it. But something just feels like it's wrong."

Hank let out a small chuckle and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "So, you're so used to having an Android by your side on missions that you can't stand to be without one?"

"No!" Gavin was quick to interject. "It's not that. It's...something else. It's-" He snarled. "Okay, you know what, just forget it." He threw his hands forwards. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'll figure it out." He turned his back on the two and headed towards the side exit. He needed a few minutes of quiet to gather his thoughts before he reviewed case files. He decided he didn't want to freeze his fingers off so he went to sit in his car, quickly cranking up the heat only to hiss when icy air blasted him in the face then slowly began to warm over the next few minutes.

He just sat there, staring out his window, trying his best to shield his eyes from the blazing sun that was crawling its way into the sky. He rested his elbows on the steering wheel and his head in his hands. He didn't need Nines to go with him! He could handle it on his own. Who needs that guy anyway? There not that much to it! Just go in and complete the mission, get the intel and bail out. Easy peasy.

_It shouldn't feel this empty._

Gavin leaned back in his seat and tightened his hands around the steering wheel arms straight forward for a moment as he stretched his back. "Come on...Come on...You got this." He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Who knows..." He pulled out his phone. "Maybe Nines will be back before you even have to set foot in that place." Gavin reassured himself. "Alright, then that's that. It's up to fate now." He typed a text into his phone reading 'Call me as soon as your done with your weird robot updates or whatever you're having done.'

Had he really not asked why Nines was going into Cyberlife in the first place? Gavin groaned, feeling like a complete and utter idiot. Sure he'd been curious about the upgrades and what-not, but had he just...forgotten to ask at all? Was Nines nervous? Afraid? Did he need someone to be with him?  
  
 _Did he need to be there for him?_

Gavin's eyes flashed over to the clock on his dashboard, watching each minute tick past, every moment becoming heavier than the last. He knew he didn't have much longer before he had to return back inside, but damn, the guilt that was building up inside of him was really dragging him down. After all the times Nines had saved his ass, he never once showed gratitude. To put it short and simple, he felt like an ass.  
  
 _Why was it so hard to show he cared?_

Why was he even thinking like this? It wasn't like Nines wasn't coming back. He might even be back before the investigation, and if that was the case, he was going to need to get started on the case files to see if he could connect any dots between the Androids and the victims they murdered.

With a twist of his keys he shut his car off before shoving the door open and wincing at the cold air that bombarded him. Gavin let the door fall close behind him and clicked his keys to lock it. To work at the DPD and get something stolen from you? That'd be laughable.

He pushed open the door to the department and moseyed his way though the now bustling lobby. Who were all these people? Why are they here? At this point he didn't have any reason to give even the slightest of damns.

After securing a cup of coffee, he plopped down at his desk and logged into his computer. He grimaced the moment 28 different case files appeared on his screen, and here he was to review every. Single. One.

 _Why don't they just get Andrew to do this shit?_  
He thought to himself as he opened the first file to see the information of the first victim, a woman in her thirties with dark hair and tan skin, she was stabbed through the heart by an Android with devastating accuracy. Next was a man in his late twenties, Spanish with short dark hair and blue eyes, next a man in his fifties, light skin and red hair, of Scottish descent. Then an old woman, a teenage girl, death by gunfire, stab wounds, strangulation, trauma to the head.

Gavin squinted his eyes and took a swig of his coffee. There had to be a correlation somewhere. It couldn't be this random, could it? Age, sex, age, and location were all completely different from one another. In fact, it was almost too different. Gavin rested his chin in his hand and idly tapped on his cheekbone, scanning over the facts that laid before him. It was like a puzzle, but every time he tried to put the pieces together the picture wouldn't make sense. It was crooked, off, disfigured...

Three hours past and he was scrolling through the information. Some had criminal records, most mild misdemeanors, some a few months of jail time. But nothing particularly vile or worthy of being deemed criminal in Gavin's opinion. Petty theft, mild drug use, failure to pay tickets. Nothing to get brutally murdered over, right?

Perhaps the Androids were going strict and punishing crimes how they seem fit? Completely ignoring the justice system. Oh no, someone 'stole' their neighbor's dog for a week because his owners left him out in the snow and pressed charges on the woman who brought him in to keep him warm. Now how about that...

He finally pushed his chair away from his desk in a 'fuck it' fashion and stood up, and walked into the break room where Tina was, sitting in a tall chair, feet resting on the single metal loop around the pole of the chair as a footrest.

"Well you look like shit." She hummed teasingly as she sipped her drink. "You know, we used to go on missions all the time without Androids..." She trailed off and tapped the side of her cup with a finger to catch his attention. "You and me both know you can handle yourself."

"Of course I can." He replied just a little too quick for Tina's belief.

"Don't tell me you've become...Dependent on RK900...have you?" She whispered the last part as if she was shocked, but to be truthful, she wouldn't have minded either way. She didn't have anything against Androids. She recognized what they were, but she never put them down because of it. She just simply enjoyed messing with Reed.

"No. Nines is just helpful on missions is all. Several times I would have been six feet under had it not been for him. It's more of the..." He searched for the words as he hopped up in the seat opposite from her, resting his elbows on the table and folding his hands. "Not having to worry about getting killed?" He paused. "I for one find it makes it easier to do my job."

"I'd say that's a plus." She raised her cup at him as if to say 'cheers to that'. "But you'll have me with you." Tina winked. "You won't have anything to worry about. Plus we have Andrew and-"  
Gavin groaned loudly interrupting her sentence and catching him off guard.

Tina blinked a few times at him before she opened her mouth to speak again. "Can you-." She paused. "Not do that?"

"Sorry, It's my instinctual reflex to bullshit."

"Does that reflex happen every morning?" She questioned with a smug look on her face.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He scrunched his nose at her.

"You know, when you look in the mirror." She couldn't hold back her grin from behind her mug.

"Haha, very funny, you're a real jokester." His tone was annoyed, but he wasn't too phased by her banter. It had become something of a running joke between them of making fun of each other. However, Tina had a much easier time 'roasting' him when it came to insults.

"That's why you don't interrupt me." Her cup clicked against the table as she sat it down. "Look, I've got a plan okay? And we've got buzzcut over there on our side." She tilted her head in Andrew's direction. "Just trust me. Everything will be alright."


	3. Chapter 3

"Everything will be alright." Tina's words brought him some solace earlier that morning and had headed back home since. Handing the case files over to Hank and Connor and had them take a peek at the files that Gavin couldn't stand to look over for the eight time that day. He had two hours before he had to return to the station and meet out back. Tina had told both Gavin and Andrew that she would be driving the car designated to them by the DPD. It was an unmark self driving car of an older model. Nothing about it could be considered suspicious at least he had hoped that was the case.

He walked in to his apartment, laying a gentle hand on the grey cat that hopped up on the counter to greet him. "Hey Smokey." He said softly. The cat purred in response, rubbing it's head against Gavin's hand. He blinked a few times as he stared at the neatly folded black and white Cyberlife jacket sitting on the back of his couch. He chewed at his lip. He still hadn't heard from Nines. What the hell were they doing that took that long? Android's could probably be assembled faster than they could service his damn Android. His? 

"Back up, Gav." He whispered to himself as he tried to understand where that thought had come from. Just a slip up. No biggie, happens from time to time. People used to own these things after all so It's not like he was meaning anything particular by it. Maybe? Ugh. He didn't want to have to stress his brain out any more than he had to. He just wanted to get something to eat, wish his cat well, grab his gun and badge and head out to the mission. Not deal with whatever his brain was throwing at him.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he whipped it out at a lightning fast pace, heart just about skipping a beat. Was it Nines?  
No.  
It was Tina.

_You alright?_  
Her text read. Yeah, sure, peachy keen. Never been better.

He paused for a few moments before tapping his message onto his phone's keyboard.  
 _Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?_

An even long pause followed as a response to Gavin was written. He watched at three dots danced up in down on the corner of his screen. They disappeared, then returned, then once again they were gone.

_You snapped at Connor for no reason on the way out. You're lucky he's still working on those case files._  
She replied and Gavin huffed. He didn't really think much about it but maybe he did sound a bit harsh, saying _A fuckin tin can's the one that solves another tin can's problems._  
Yeah, oops.

He was barely thinking when he had said it. It was as if his mind were on autopilot, do preoccupied with other things to really focus on what came out of his mouth.

_Did...anyone else hear me say that?_ He typed out his question quickly.

_Don't worry, no one thinks you're a bigger ass than you already make yourself out to be._ Tina replied and Gavin strew himself onto his couch, throwing his phone onto the coffee table in front of him. If the next message didn't come from Nines he was going to throw his damn phone out the window of the second story he was on. He wanted some actual helpful information.

The minutes of the clock went round and round until there were several hard bangs on his door.  
"The hell?" He practically jumped out of his seat and stared at the door.

"Gavin?" Tina's voice was loud and full of concern. "Gavin, open the door, we need to go now, plans have changed."

He jumped to his feet and quickly unlocked his door, swinging it open to meet his distressed friends. "What's wrong?" Gavin quickly questioned, eyes scanning her up and down. She was wearing dark clothing as if she hoped to blend into the night.

"They-" She almost choked on her words. "Connor found the correlation. It's..." She tried to slow her breathing. "We need to go, Gavin. We need to go now. I'll explain on the way." She said before turning her pack and running down the hall. Gavin barely had time to grab his gun and slam his door shut. Throwing his brown jacket over his shoulder as he chased her down the stairs and out the front doors of the complex.

"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on, Chen?" He quipped with frustration as he slammed the door on the passengers side and put his seatbelt on. The look on her face was dire and Gavin swore he felt his heart sink into the deepest recesses of his stomach. He caught a glimpse of Andrew in the backseat, but at this point he couldn't have cared less. The car was started and the tires burnt against the ground as Tina slammed the gas pedal. "Shit..." Gavin muttered under his breath as he grabbed onto the bar on the roof to keep himself from slamming into the door when she made the first turn.

"Those people that were killed." Tina started and made another sharp turn, blowing through a red light. "They weren't random. Far from it, Gav." She paused and glanced over for a split second to meet his eyes. "It's a hit list, Gavin." She took in a deep breath and tried to steady her mind.

"We don't know why it's been compiled yet..." Andrew added in from the background. "It's possible that these people may have wronged Android's in some way."

"Well it sure as hell would have to be significant don't you think?" Gavin looked over his shoulder at the man sitting in the back seat. "Where the fuck do you get the motive to just start hacking off a bunch of humans?" He threw a hand up in emphasis. "One of the victims was in their early teens for God's sake!"

The car's speed slowed slightly as they approached a more trafficked area. "Come on..." Tina muttered as she honked the horn a few times. "This damn thing doesn't have any lights so we can't speed ahead of these people." She huffed and pressed her back into her seat. "I don't know why they're doing what they're doing, Gav, but that's what we need to figure out." She paused for a moment. "It should take us about twenty minutes to get there." She started as she pressed the gas pedal a bit faster to keep in rhythm with the rest of the cars. "We park a block down from their rusted warehouse hideout. We'll go in the back if there aren't any Androids standing out back."

"We're going to have to adjust our tactics accordingly." Andrew added. "I sure as hell hope you two are better at being quiet there than you are in here."

"Hey, shut the fuck up, how else are we suppose to collectively know what the plan is you complete moron." Tina glared at Andrew through the rear view mirror. "And I hope you aren't such an asshole when we get there. I swear to God if you screw this up..." She couldn't even bring herself to finish her sentence. Instead she let out a loud puff of air and Andrew raised his eyebrows. Quite surprised at her outburst towards him, but Gavin on the other hand was loving it. He raised an eyebrow and looked over at her briefly.

"Maybe you should trust my intuition on people more." Gavin winked.

"You shut up to." She pointed a finger at him. "I wasn't even done telling you the plan. And yes we're going to have to adapt the plan accordingly, but we need to go over a baseline plan before we get there and fuck everything up."

"Okay, okay." Gavin sunk back in his seat. "Continue." He waved a hand towards her, gesturing her to go on.

"Fowler was able to pull up some blueprints on this place, and the best place to enter is going to be the east side." She paused, turning the steering wheel sharply as soon as the light turned green. "We park about a block out and we go in armed." She sighed. "They might have hostages so we need to be as careful as we can be.

Gavin nodded. "So we go in there, guns a blazing?"

"No, of course not." Tina replied, her grip on the steering wheel tightened greatly. Gavin couldn't tell if it was from frustration or if she was nervous about the mission. "We need to be stealthy. If we can go without being seen then that would be great."

"How is that going to take care of the Android situation if we can't kill 'em?"

Tina huffed. "Gav, we need to gather intel, not go on a murder spree. That's a sure fire way to get us killed." Her shoulders sunk. "These things are faster, stronger, and smarter than we are. We get caught and we're toast."

"I agree." Buzzcut chimed in and Gavin had to hold back a witty remark.

It felt weird to be going on a mission without Nines by his side. It almost felt wrong. After all, Nines was the most advanced Android up to date, he should be able to take down an entire armada on his own. But no, they had to do this on their own, with a very high level of possibly fucking it up.

Gavin let out a deep sigh and looked out the window at the world passing by. Street lamps would be flickering on in just a few hours. There was something in his heart that was telling him just to turn around and abandon the mission, but he attributed it to missing Nines.

Wait. _Missing_ Nines? No, no way he was actually missing him. Gavin furrowed his brows in thought. He had been through a lot with Nines and he relied on the Android more often than not. Maybe it was natural to miss him. After all he was very familiar with his presence.

The car screeched to a halt, about a block from the hideout just as they had planned. The three got out of the warm car and into the harsh cold. Tina locked up the car and lead the way to where they needed to go. Gavin's heart was slowly sinking into the pit of his stomach, so badly so that he had to place a hand over his abdomen to help stop the feeling. Tina and Andrew on the other hand didn't quite seem as phased as he did.

The hideout was now in sight, it was tucked in between two other run down buildings with small alleys on either side. There were wooden beams that were cracking along with the foundation. There were holes and exposed metal wires on the roof. The windows were broken in and the entire place didn't look at all habitable. But Gavin supposed Androids didn't need much to survive other than a little bit of blue blood.

They were able to enter on the east side, and the inside of the building was even more dilapidated on the inside. The floorboards were coming up and the smell. Oh Lord, the smell. It was like someone had been killed in there and left for a month. There wasn't much of a doubt that that had actually happened.

There were sparking wires hanging from the ceiling, several of which the three had to duck under to avoid getting a jolt of electricity. The wallpaper was peeling off in large pieces revealing the wooden boards underneath. They made their way into a kitchen and it was completely filthy. It looked like it hadn't been clean since an actual human had lived there.

Pots and pans laid on the stove and God knows what was on the cracking tile of the floor. Chairs were strewn here and there from the small table that sat to the left of the kitchen where several canisters of blue blood sat. Blue blood meant that there were Androids nearby.

Gavin drew his gun, steadying it on his arms while his fingers were on the trigger, ready to fire. Tina and Andrew followed suit. Their guns had silencers so that if they needed to shoot, other Androids wouldn't be aware of it. They turned each corner with caution, training their guns on anything that moved, even small rodents that scurried along the ground.

Gavin's heart was racing out of his chest as adrenaline filled his veins, without another second to pass an android appeared in front of them. They all quickly fired shots at it, but it dodged two shots and took the third one in the shoulder. Before they could fire again, the three of them were each grabbed from behind by a different Android.

Tina let out a scream and threw her elbow back into the Android's face. It barely flinched and her voice only alerted more Androids in the hideout. Gavin did his best to struggle out of the Android's grasp, but it was futile. Even Andrew's military training couldn't get him out of the hold.

Gavin's gun dropped to the floor and it took him a moment to realize he'd been put in a sleeper hold. Within moments his vision faded to black, senses completely unaware of anything that happened next.

By the time Gavin finally came back to, they were in a different room, possibly a basement. His head was killing him and he realized he was laying on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back. He slowly sat up, trying to free his hands from the cuffs with no avail. He groaned and looked over to Tina who was still knocked out along with Andrew.

Staggering to his feet, Gavin looked around, trying to find some way out. There was a door just up a small set of stairs. He quickly ascended them, turning around to that he could reach the knob with his hand.

_Locked._

Of course it was locked. Gavin let out a sigh and went back down the stairs, crouching down next to Tina. "Hey wake up." He said quietly, standing back up and nudging her with foot. Tina groaned and rolled off her stomach and on to her side.

"We are so fucked."


	4. Chapter 4

Hours had passed in the low lit, damp room, and all Gavin could think of was not trusting his gut. Hit list or not, they were going to be the next ones to be slaughtered at the hands of these Androids. This would _never_ had happened had Nines been here... Gavin thought. Nines would have been able to easily get them out of this situation, but no! He had to get upgrades n' shit done. Fowler wouldn't even give Nines the time to get back to go on this mission. Time sensitivity be damned.

The door slowly creaked open and four androids came marching in, LEDs flickering between blue, yellow and red as they scanned their hostages. It felt somewhat violating to be scanned so intently by an Android, but Gavin tried to push the thought as far from his mind as he could. He had to focus on the situation at hand.

"What the hell do you want?" Gavin questioned, eyebrows furrowed and lip turned up in a snarl.

"Oh, nothing much." Said the tallest android. Short dark hair and green eyes accentuated his features. "Just to play a little game."

Gavin did not like the sound of that. He watched the Android's lips turn up into a devilish smile and he knew by now they were in some seriously deep shit.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tina questioned.

"Wouldn't you like to know." The Android said, pulling a gun from behind his back. "The name's Theo..." He wore a green jacket and ugly tan shorts with matching shoes. Gavin's eyes flickered between Theo's green eyes and the gun. He knew something was about to go terribly awry.

"It's...Gavin, isn't it?"

"What do you care?" Gavin hissed at the Android.

"Because you're the one who gets to chose..." Theo said as he held the gun up, examining it with his finger on the trigger.

By this time Andrew was now waking up, his eyes squinting as he sat up, looking at the Androids that surrounded them in a tight circle. Two of them grabbed Tina and Andrew by their wrists, forcing them down on their knees.

"Now comes the fun part." Theo said, uncuffing Gavin and putting the gun in Gavin's hand, but keeping his own hand tightly on Gavin's so that he couldn't move. "You have to chose who you shoot." He said diabolically, eyes fixed on Tina as he moved the gun towards her. "Who's it gonna be?"

Gavin started to shake, fear building up heavily in his gut. He wasn't about to shoot someone. No. He couldn't kill them. Gavin closed his eyes tightly and tried to imagine he wasn't in the situation, but it only lasted a few seconds until Theo hit Gavin over the side of the head, causing his ear to ring loudly.

"Don't close your eyes." Theo said in a lowly whisper in Gavin's ear. He tried to struggle out of Theo's grasp, but he couldn't. The Android's grip was too strong. "Do it or I'll take away something you deeply care about."

"Jokes on you, I don't care about anything!" Gavin scoffed.

"Not even...Nines?" Theo questioned.

Gavin's shoulders dropped along with his expression. What were they going to do with Nines if he didn't take the shot?

"Hah." Gavin said half-heartedly. "You're awful full of yourself to think you can take on Nines."

"We already have him." Theo chimed in, raising his free hand to show a hologram of Nines tied to a chair with a gun drawn to his head.

"How did you- But he-" Gavin stuttered over his own words.

"A bit flustered, are we?" Theo paused. "How about you have a little chat with your dear RK900 and see who should be the lucky survivor.

"Nines!" Gavin called out, hoping that he could hear him.

"Gavin?" Nines looked around the room he was in, he couldn't see Gavin, but he could hear him. "What's happening over there?"

"They're making me shoot either Andrew or Tina!" Gavin cried out, his voice wavering. He felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Pure terror. He was going to have to put a bullet into another human being in order to save Nines.

"Or they'll shoot me. Correct?" Nines' voice was calm and collected even for the terrifying situation they were in. Nines let out a deep breath, knowing that his fate was closing in on him.

Gavin began to breathe heavily, his hand would have been shaking had Theo not had it firmly held against the gun. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as Theo pushed down on the trigger slightly, not enough to fire, but enough to get close.

"Yes." Gavin tried to remain his composure, but he swore he felt panic coursing through his body and there was nothing he could do about it. He tried to take a few deep breaths, calming himself, but he couldn't fight the tears that begin rolling down his face. He couldn't lose Nines. He had to make this choice, and it was an obvious one.

"Don't shoot, Gavin." Nine's said coolly. "It's okay. I won't make you do this."

"I'm not letting you die, Nines!"

"Gavin, listen to me." Nines said softly. "I'm willing to take the bullet. I won't let you live on knowing that you killed an innocent soul."

"Not making this any easier, Nines!" Gavin all but sobbed. He knew that in order to save Nines, he was going to have to kill Andrew. He didn't know if he could do it. He didn't know if he could actually take a life that was staring into his eyes, pleading for mercy.

"Gavin." Nines repeated his name yet again. "I need you to calm down and listen to me." He said a little bit more sternly. "By the tone of your voice you are nearing a panic attack."

"Yeah, no fuckin' duh." Gavin struggled against Theo, but he only held on tighter with one of Gavin's arms pinned behind his back painfully. Tears continued streaming down Gavin's face as he tried to regain his composure, but it was no use. He felt embarrassed even in this dire situation. He knew he needed to make a decision soon, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't pull the trigger on one of his colleagues even though he didn't care for Andrew too much, he was still a human being.

"Breath with me Gavin. Regardless you will be okay. You'll still have the memories of me, okay? That's going to have to be good enough."

"Make up your mind, Reed." Theo said, swaying the gun back and forth between Tina and Andrew. "Are you willing to kill for Nines?" He questioned. "Your time is running out."

5

He couldn't do it he couldn't shoot. No he wouldn't. Nines was willing to take the bullet and Gavin should let him, right?

4

No, he couldn't let Nines die.

3

But to live with the guilt of killing an innocent.

2

But Nines had always been there for him through thick and thin.

1

This was it, this was the moment of truth.  
  
"I'm sorry Nines..."

_BANG_


	5. Chapter 5

  
Theo released Gavin's hand and the gun fell to the floor. His heart felt like it had been ripped from his chest as he watched the body hit the ground in front of him.

"N-Nines?" Gavin questioned voice wavering as he tried to get his attention.

"I'm here."

"I shot him." Gavin fell to his knees and Tina stared at the bullet hole in the center of Andrew's chest. Andrew was gasping for air as he clenched his chest. Tina quickly ran to his side, putting pressure on the wound, but she knew it was futile. Blood covered her hands as the man slowly bled out. "I-I..."

"Very good!" Theo cooed. "What do you think, should we play again?"

A shot came through the a small window, then another, and another, until all the Android's fell to the ground, all except Theo. Theo's green eyes widened as he looked through the small window, another shot hitting him dead in the forehead.

Within seconds, A swat team came running in, scanning the area and shooting any stray Android. Gavin had blue blood splattered over the side of his face. He was still shaking, absolutely terrified. Tina walked over to him and wrapped him in a hug.

"It's okay, Gav. It's okay." She told him, holding him tighter. They both looked down at Andrew's lifeless body, he felt such a strong guilt taking hold of him that he could barely stand it. He had to leave the room, there was nothing else to it.

So up the stairs he went, leaving Tina behind with the swat team. He pressed his back against the wall just outside of the basement and slowly slid down until he was on the ground and then he cried quietly, trying to hold back his sobs. His knees were pulled to his chest and he rested his arms on his knees, then put his head down, putting himself in the safest position he could think of.

"Gavin." A voice called softly, Gavin's head shot up to see Nines and he quickly wiped away his tears before the Android could see. But his red eyes were a dead giveaway. Gavin stood and Nines pulled him into a hug, gently stroking his back. "You shouldn't have shot Andrew." He paused. "I was going to take that bullet. I can be replaced, he can't."

"Replaced?" Gavin furrowed his brows. "Your dumbass thinks you can be replaced?"

"Of course I can be. I'm an Android." Nines said matter of fact as he pulled away from the hug slightly, just enough to look Gavin in the eyes. "Human beings can not be replaced." Simple as that, right?

"What the fuck." Gavin took both of his hands and shoved Nines off of him. "You can't be replaced!"

"I didn't think it mattered that much to you, Detective."

"Of course it does!"

"Might I inquire as to why?"

"Because I love you, you idiot!

Gavin quickly clasped his hand over his mouth as his eyes widened. He really just said that, didn't he? His heartrate went up and his face flushed red. He didn't know if he should stay and stick out whatever the hell Nines was about to say, or if she should hightail it out of there. Hightail it out of there it is. Gavin went to speed walk past Nines when the Android grasped his arm tightly.

"Why?"

"This isn't the place Nines..." Gavin grumbled under his breath.

"Why do you love me? I thought you hated me?"

"Of course I don't hate you." Gavin sighed heavily. "I just- I don't know- I-"

"I love you too." Nines said gently, running his fingers around the gash on Gavin's head from where Theo had hit him. "You need to get this taken care of, come with me. Hank is out by the ambulance. We can get you patched up."

"Ok." Gavin's eyes flickered between Nines' icy blue ones. "Ok." He repeated, giving a slight nod.

He followed Nines out to the ambulance from the south side of the building, nearest to the road. There were several cop cars surrounding the building, along with a swat vehicle. Gavin sat on the tailgate of the ambulance and Nines hopped in to grab a bandage and some antiseptic.

Nines poured the antiseptic on a small cloth and dabbed it on Gavin's wound. He hissed at the pain as the solutions bubbled. Then a bandage was quickly applied and the pain soon vanished. Nines stoked Gavin's cheek with two knuckles.

"It's not your fault that Andrew died. Under different circumstances, I know you would never hurt anyone like that."

"But I did, Nines." He tilted his head to the side, eyes saddened. "I chose to shoot him."

"It'll be alright."

"No it won't." Gavin protested.

Nines sighed. "You will be okay." He tilted Gavin's chin up to look into his green eyes.

"No I won-"

Nines interrupted Gavin with a soft kiss to his lips. He couldn't hold it back. He didn't care what situation they were in. Gavin had just confessed his love to Nines and he knew Gavin needed the extra comfort as well as the distraction. Gavin let his eyes flutter close for a moment, feeling the rush of his flush cover over his neck and his face.

"This isn't the time to do this..." Gavin said as he broke the kiss, looking up at Nines. "I just killed a man and you're tryna get some."

"I can assure you I am not 'tryna get some'." Nines paused. "I simply thought you would welcome the distraction."

"It was a welcomed distraction, but..." Gavin laid his head on Nines' shoulder and took a deep breath. "Andrew is dead because of me."

"You did it to save me."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm now a murderer."

"Gavin." Nines grabbed him by the shoulders. "You are not a murderer. You did not chose to let someone die. You didn't have a choice. Someone was going to die."

"But I still made that choice, Nines."

Nines stayed silent, unsure of what to say. "You're going to have to talk to Hank about what happened so that they can document it and run charges. Not against you of course. I can vouch for you that you are innocent."

"I wouldn't say I'm too terribly innocent in this situation, but okay."

Tina made he way out of the building to catch up with Gavin, a warming blanket over her shoulders given to her from being in the freezing basement. She held it tightly around her. She walked slowly as if her mind were somewhere else.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Tina asked Gavin and he nodded.

"Eventually, I hope."

"You will." Nines piped in. "How about I call a cab after you give your witness account and I can take you home, okay?"

Gavin talked to both Hank and another officer about what had happened and how he had to shoot Andrews or else Nines would have died. He told them that he didn't have a choice. They either way someone was going to die. But if he had held out for just a few more seconds the snipper would have gotten Theo and no one would have had to die.

Gavin sat cross armed in the warm cab with Nines on the opposite side of the vehicle. They sat in silence for most of the ride to Gavin's apartment, but three quarters of the way there Gavin spoke up.

"I made the right decision, didn't I?" He uncrossed his arms and let his fingers hold tightly to the edge of the seat. "Or was my choice a selfish one because of how I feel about you?" He questioned. Before Nines could answer he continued to speak. "I know you technically can be replaced. But it wouldn't be you. It would just be a look alike. You have your memories and our experiences together." He drew in a shaky breath. "I couldn't lose that and that makes me feel selfish."

"You aren't selfish, Gavin." Nines sighed. "You made a choice in the heat of the moment and it can't be undone." He moved to the side of the cabin that Gavin was on, sitting close to him with his hands folded in his lap.

"I know that it can't be undone, you don't have to rub it in my face..."

"That was not my intention."

"I know." Gavin huffed.

They arrived at Gavin's small apartment complex and rode the elevator to the second floor. Room 5B. Gavin's hands were still slightly shaking, not near as bad as earlier, but enough that it would cause difficulty putting the key into the keyhole. Nines put his hand on Gavin's to steady it and let him open the door on his own.

"I'm going to go take a shower. Get this damn thirium bullshit off of me."

"Ok, I'll be right here."

As soon as Gavin got into the bathroom he discarded his clothes onto the floor and hopped into the shower before it even got the chance to warm up. He shivered a bit but it wasn't long before the water was hot. He let the water wash over his face and hair and lathered soap over his shoulders.

When he closed his eyes he could see the scene before him again. Pulling the trigger and watching the blood seap through Andrew's shirt. The light was pulled out of the man's eyes in a swift moment and Gavin knew in that moment that he was never going to be the same again. He was going to have to live with this for the rest of his life. That was his price to pay in order to keep Nines alive.

What if there were more Androids that came after him? Why would they threaten such a highly advanced Android in the first place. How on earth was Nines not able to take them on? It baffled him. He quickly dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist before walking across the hall to his bedroom.

Nines caught a quick glimpse of him before he disappeared into his room and this time it was the Android's turn to blush. He cleared his throat and let his eyes trace around the room as if he had seen nothing.

It wasn't long before Gavin was dressed, coming out in a white T-shirt and a pair of black shorts. He plopped down on the seat beside Nines, realizing that something was not quite right.

"If you were at Cyberlife, how on Earth did you get to the hideout?"

Nines stayed silent, looking down at his black shoes, shuffling his feet slightly.

"Nines." Gavin said in a stern voice.

"My updates only took around half an hour." Nines paused. "However, I didn't realize that my functions were going to be offline for so long after I left. I headed over to the hideout as soon as I learned that you were going to be there, but I got surrounded and they tied me up." His eyes were opened only slightly. "I thought I was going to die there."

"Oh..." That's right, Nines went through trauma as well.

"I was scared, Gavin." The Android looked up at Gavin, eyes misty and it shocked Gavin. He'd never seen the Android look so vulnerable.

"Please don't cry..." Gavin said, standing and grabbing Nines' hands. "Come with me." He led to Android to his room and sat down on the bed with Nines beside him. "Stay with me tonight?" He questioned. "I know it's sudden and you don't have to I just thought that maybe-"

"Of course."


	6. Chapter 6

A few days had passed and Andrew's funeral had been held over the weekend. Gavin couldn't bring himself to actually go to it. The guilt of killing him was too strong. In retrospect, he should have gone to pay his respects but he just couldn't do it. He couldn't see all of Andrew's family mourning over his death and know that he was to blame.

Gavin had spent the last couple of days at his apartment, taking the time off of work to cope with what had happened. He hadn't seen the RK900 since that night and he missed it. He recalled falling asleep but waking up crying in the middle of the night. He vaguely remembered Nines pulling him to his chest, soft blue LED illuminating the strong features of his face.

Nines' body was warm, surprisingly so and the rise and fall of his chest made him seem so much more human that Gavin actually realized he could be. Most of all, he was surprisingly gently. The way he Nines had cuddled up to him made him realize he shouldn't be near as hard on the Android as he had been in the past.

Gavin laid on the couch, his cat Smokey lounging on his stomach, rising and falling with his breathing. The cat purred when Gavin ran his hand down the length of its back. It was hard for Gavin to close his eyes and not see that moment Theo made him pull the trigger. It wasn't nothing less than horrifying.

There was a knock on his door, causing him to jump and Smokey to leap off of his chest. Gavin approached the door cautiously as his mind was still on edge. He looked through the peephole and-

"Nines?" He questioned as he unlocked the door and opened it for the Android. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to inform you have been classified as a victim and therefore will not be facing criminal charges." Nines gave a nod before continuing. "There is no need for a court hearing as I replayed the audio to the authorities."

Gavin's shoulder relaxed as he stepped to the side, inviting the Android in. "Thanks." He said to the RK900 before walking back over to his couch and sitting down. Nines followed, sitting down rather stiffly, but it was usually for the Android. "I guess I owe you one." He cleared his throat. "About the other night..."

"What about it?"

"You know." Gavin shrugged his shoulders, eyes focused down on the ground. "Thank you." He said sincerely. Even after the turn of events that transpired, he felt safe for the first time in a long time in Nines arms. It scared him to know that if he had hesitated for even a moment, Nines wouldn't be here beside him.

"It was no problem." Nines smiled softly. "I needed it too."

"I'm sorry I didn't go to Andrews funeral..." Gavin paused. "It was just all too much." He ran a hand through his hair. "I couldn't face his family."

"I understand." Nines replied. "It was a very sad event..." He said bluntly, not intending to make Gavin feel bad, but it made him feel terrible.

"I should have been the one to take the bullet, Nines." Gavin huffed. "I shouldn't be alive right now." He paused for a moment. "Why was I the one that got to survive?"

Nines grabbed Gavin's shoulder. "You can't think like that, Gavin."

"You don't understand Nines...I don't deserve to be alive." Gavin didn't think Nines saw him eye the gun on his table, but he did.

Nines grip tightened on Gavin, almost painfully so. "Don't you ever say that again." His voice was low and his icy blue eyes were filled with fire. "Don't you ever." He accentuated his last word powerfully. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. "I can't lose you."

"Nines..." Gavin said softly as he pulled Nines into a hug, eyes still focused on the gun. "You won't."

"Promise?"

Gavin's eyes broke from the gun and he let his eyes fall close. "I promise."

Gavin had weighed his options and decided it would be best not to break Nines heart. The poor 'droid was already broken up from what had happened, how could he possibly handle looking Gavin? He would probably have to deactivate himself.

They stayed there for several minutes, just holding each other, trying to forget the world around then and everything that had happened in that damn basement. The room was silent, all except for Smokey's quiet mews as he rubbed himself against Gavin's leg. Gavin sighed, pulled back from Nines and picked up the cat, cradling him between himself and the Android.

"Things are going to be alright, Gavin." Nines told him. "You're not going to feel like this forever."

"Yeah..." Gavin trailed off as he bounced Smokey like a baby, looking down at the cat. "I don't know about that."

"It's true!" Nines said sternly. "Statistics show that the probabilities of-"

"I don't care about statistics or probabilities. I care about what I'm feeling right now."

"You can't just focus on what you feel at the moment and judge it as the feeling that's going to haunt your entire life!" Nines said.

"You don't understand." Gavin said lowly. "You couldn't understand."

"I understand more than you realize, Gavin." Nines began. "I may be an Android, but since deviation I've been able to experience the range of human thought and emotion."

"I know that." Gavin paused. "But you'll never be inside my head, so therefore you can't know exactly what I'm feeling." He furrowed his brow, holding Smokey tightly.

"I don't have to know exactly what you're feeling. But I'd like to be here for you."

Gavin relaxed and let his forehead touch against Nines'. That's when Gavin noticed something...As soon as he made contact with Nines, his LED turned pink.

"Pink?" Gavin questioned curiously pulling away from Nines just enough to look him in the eyes.

"I-" Nines swallowed hard. "It's nothing." His LED flickered back to blue.

"I don't believe that." He placed his palm against Nines' cheek, and there it was again, a pink LED. It made Gavin smile. The first one that Nines had seen in a while. "You care about me."

"Of course I do." Nines pressed into Gavin's palm. "How could I not?" He paused, turning to kiss Gavin's palm. "But I'm worried about you." He whispered before moving from the kiss. Gavin's face flushed at the gesture.

"I want things to get back to normal for you soon. But I know that humans need a longer time to process grief..." Nines said.

"Yeah, I don't exactly have a supercomputer for a brain."

"Oh, but the human mind has wonders of its own."

"Yeah, what, depression?"

"Gavin." Nines huffed, almost in annoyance.

"Anyway..." Gavin trailed off. "Any leads on the hit list?"

"Yes, actually." Nines nodded. "I was able to download part of the list from Theo, upon reactivating him."

"How the hell did you reactivate him?"

"Well, he wasn't reactivated fully, just enough for me to interface with him and gather the information I needed." Nines held up his hand, fingers lax as the skin dissipated for a few moments, then flooded back.

"You really are an advanced 'droid." Gavin chuckled.

Nines' LED flickered pink. "I would like to kiss you again." He said out of the blue, voice barely above a whisper.

Gavin froze for a moment, then leaned in, letting his lips softly touch Nines'. The kiss didn't last too terribly long, but it had Nines wanting a bit more.

"After almost dying...I don't want to miss out on any moments like this." He broke the kiss just enough to speak. Before Gavin knew it he was laying on his back with Nines on top of him. The cat that Gavin was holding swiftly jumped off his chest as Nines' LED grew a brighter pink.

"Oh-" Gavin began. "The pink LED means you're horny??"


	7. Chapter 7

  
"It most certainly does not!" Nines protested, although he was feeling a little riled up. "It's...It's a special kind of love reserved only for you. It means I love you deeply, and I want to kiss and touch you."

"That's, actually really sweet..." Gavin paused. "So we're really gonna do this?" He questioned beginning to feel a tad nervous amongst _other_ things.

"With your consent, then yes."

"Yeah." Gavin nodded fervently. "Go ahead."

Before their lips met, there was the sound of shattering glass and Nines' seized up and began shaking. It didn't take Gavin long to find the tether attached to Nines' back that lead out the window. Nines locked up completely and fell onto the floor, completely prone and unmoving all but his eyes that flickered around the room. His LED was bright red as he attempted to scan the environment around him.

"Nines!" Gavin called out as he kneeled beside him, before wrapping his hands around the arrow like weapon in his back. A strong jolt of electricity went through Gavin's body and he fell to his side. Gavin's eyes were blurry for a moment, but he managed to refocus on Nines' eyes. "Nines." Gavin said weakly.

Another crash in the window and an Android identical to Theo came stumbling in. He wore different clothes, but there was no mistaking that face. He was the same model. Gavin staggered to his feet, looking over to the gun on the table for a split second before racing to it. The Android had the same idea and launched after the gun, beating Gavin to it.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The Android cocked the gun and pointed it at Gavin. "You can come with us without a fight, or with a fight. Either way, you won't be winning."

"Ga-a-vin..." Nines voice was inhumanly static as he laid helplessly on the floor.

"You honestly think I'm going to just go?" Gavin scrunched up his nose. "You're gonna have to shoot me first."

The Theo look-a-like just tiled his head to the side before lowing his gun slightly before pulling the trigger and shooting Gavin in the leg.

"You fucking bastard!" Gavin yelled as he fell to the ground, clutching his leg near where the bullet had entered. He was bleeding, but not enough to worry about bleeding out. Still, it hurt like hell. Gavin laid there for a few moments praying to whatever God was up there for the pain to stop.

Nines called out to him again, doing his best to move, but he was rendered motionless by the cable that continued to pump electricity into his lower back. Gavin reached out to Nines, but 'Theo' dug a heavy heel into his wrist.

"He's pathetic for wanting to be with you, Gavin." The Android said, digging his heel in harder, causing Gavin to groan. "Android's are superior to humans in every way. You are beneath us."  
A swift kick to the head rendered Gavin unconscious.

Gavin's eyes flickered open and everything was dark. The faint engine sound along with motion and bumps gave it away that he had indeed been shoved into a trunk. His hands and legs were tied, painfully so.

He did his best to thrash out of the bondage, but it did nothing but rock the car, alerting whoever was driving that he was away. Ok, what was he going to do next? Knock out the break lights! But he couldn't. He threw himself around the trunk, throwing his feet into the general area of the break lights. It began to wiggle a little bit. He struck it hard one more times and it fell out, nothing but wires keeping it attached to the vehicle.

It was rather stuffy in the trunk and Gavin's eyes strained to keep focus on the only bit of light pouring into the car. Hopefully someone had seen the tail light fall out and the DPD would be on there way before he knew it.

The burning in his leg increased after he had kicked. He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. He was not about to have another panic attack. Not in the back of a dark, dank, trunk.

_Nines._

He remembered so clearly now. They had hurt Nines and he didn't know to what extent his damage was. It made him furious to know that his partner was out there hurting, either left for dead or in the back of another car.

"No, no, no!" Gavin yelled as he threw himself around again, hoping and praying that the trunk would somehow come unlatched and he could get out. But it never did. About thirty minutes of trying to escape, Gavin surrendered, laying there, panting, on the verge of another panic attack for sure.

If they were to hurt Nines, he didn't know what he would do. He couldn't cope with it. He needed to get out of there, but he didn't know how.

"Nines!" He yelled as loud as he could. "Someone! Help!" His voice was raspy from the sheer volume he screamed. No one came to his rescue, not even the one he loved. "Nines is going to come for me. He'd never give up on me. Not as long as he's alive." Gavin whispered to himself, a vast contrast from his previously loud voice.

He tried to reassure himself that Nines was okay, but the more he thought about it, the more unsure he became. He couldn't get the image of Nines laying on the ground out of his head. What if that beautiful LED went out? Just after he found out it could turn pink too...

His body knocked against the wall of the trunk when the car came screeching to a halt. He groaned when the light came pouring in from the trunk as it finally opened it. He was grabbed by one incredibly strong Android that threw him over his shoulder as if Gavin were weightless.

"Let me go!" Gavin yelled, striking the Android's back with his bound fists. "You big ugly fucker!"

The Android only grunted in reply, holding on to the small of Gavin's back even tighter. He was so fucked if Nines was dead. It would take the DPD a few days to even realize he was missing. Maybe not so much with Nines, but Gavin, yeah.

The Android was taking him up the stairs to a motel which he had no doubt the bed inside would be the one of his death. Gavin felt and looked like he'd been through a blender. Gash in his head, blood stains down his pant leg from the bullet wound, and wrists beginning to turn red from the tightness of the ropes.

"If you're gonna kill me, just do it!" Gavin said as the motel door swung open and he was thrown onto the bed with brute force, causing his neck to quickly bend back. The door was shut and the lights were low. He knew he was in for some deep shit when Theo 2.0 came waltzing in from the other room.

"You escaped before we could finish our game!" He leaned up against the wall, most likely in an attempt to be cool, but it failed. "Now, you're probably wondering who I am."

"Theo?"

"Exactly."

"But how did you?..." Gavin said quietly as he sat up by throwing his legs over the side and -agh- leg still hurts like a bitch.

"I uploaded my memories before I got shot. The very moment I realized I was in trouble, I sent them over."

"So you're not the same Theo, just a look a like." Gavin scrunched his nose. He hated the idea that Nines would only be a look a like if he had just waited one more second before pulling the trigger. "

"Yeah, yeah. Technically. I have memories of my own life before the memory upload, but being Theo just seemed like so much fun!"

"So Theo is just a costume? A persona?" Gavin questioned.

"Hmm." Theo crossed his arms. "Well, when you put it like that, yes, I guess he is."

"So all of this is just an act? A game?"

"I don't think I could have been any clearer on that, dear."

"Don't dear me asshole." Gavin hissed before pulling at his wrist ropes with his teeth.

"Don't bother, you're not going to be able to get through those ropes with your teeth..." Theo waved a dismissive hand.

Gavin gave one more attempt to rip the rope with his teeth but only got a few strands of it to break off. "Why are you doing this?" Gavin looked up, brows furrowed and eyes dark.

"Because of what you've done." Theo walked up to the bed, placing a finger under his chin to tilt it up just a tad more. "You've wronged two of my people, remember?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Earlier I was about to do the opposite of that!"

"Oh, yes, that. Disgusting." Theo scrunched his nose up and frowned. "But don't you remember punching a certain RK800 in the stomach? Or threatening to shoot him? You've even wronged your own partner. Calling him names? Tsk tsk."

"I never meant any of those names and he knows it!"

"And Connor?"

"He-I...I don't know, he had it coming!" Gavin paused, trying to find the right words. "Okay, okay, I fucked up. I shouldn't have done it!" He swallowed hard. "What are you going to do with me?" He questioned meekly, his harsh persona melting into something a bit softer out of fear.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any suggestions on what should happen to Gavin? I'm totally stumped...


	8. Chapter 8

"I would like to know, actually." Gavin struggled against the ropes around his wrists once more. "If you're gonna kill me, why don't you just go ahead and do it?"

"Kill you?" Theo took a step towards Gavin, his face illuminated eerily by the lamp in the room. "This soon?" Another step forwards. "Where would the fun be?" His voice lowered as he stared into Gavin's eyes. "We're going to make you pay, and then we're going to kill you."

Gavin's heart dropped. This was really it. If he wasn't found soon he wasn't going to be found alive. He looked around frantically trying to conjure up some sort of escape plan, but there was a large Android blocking the only door into the room.

"Aw, don't look so scared." Theo grinned devilishly. "It won't hurt that much." He broke out into laughter. "Okay, maybe it will, but that's part of the fun!"

"Fun for who, you bastard?" Gavin questioned.

"Us, of course."

Gavin stood, balancing the best he could with his ankles tied. His leg was killing him at this point, but at least the bullet stuck inside kept him from bleeding too bad. Immediately there was a fist jabbed into his stomach, knocking him back down onto the bed. Gavin groaned and curled in on himself.

"I didn't say you could stand." Theo growled, pointing a finger at Gavin who continued groaning in distress.

A disturbing silence fell over the dingy room and Gavin let his eyes focus on the features of the area. The large bed underneath him wasn't the most comfortable, but it was a lot better than if he were to have fallen onto the floor.

The lamp barely illuminated the entire room and it smelled of mold and something salty that Gavin couldn't quite place. The blanket on the bed was almost as scratchy as the ropes around his wrists and ankles.

There was one window with the curtains pulled shut next to the door, but he knew if he tried to escape from it, he would have quickly been caught. To the front of the room was a small tv playing static sitting on top of a short, rather wide dresser.

To the right of the room there was a small microwave sitting on the counter of a small kitchenette reading the time, 11:45. He couldn't remember what time it was when he was back at his apartment with Nines or how long he was out in the trunk of the car.

Nines had to be looking for him by now. The DPD should have already been alerted. These androids wouldn't have killed one of their own kind, would they? maybe they were disgusted by him for being with a human. Looked at him less than the Android than he was.

"I still can't believe you brainwashed that poor RK900 into actually wanting to have sex with you." Theo tsked, leaning his back against the wall, facing Gavin.

"Why is that so hard to believe? And brainwashed? He loves me!"

"Loves you?" Theo scrunched his nose and furrowed his brows. "You really believe that he actually loves you?"

Gavin knew that his words shouldn't have hurt as deep as they should, but they did. They cut him to the bone.

"Of course he does!"

"Are you so sure about that?" Theo sat down on the edge of the bed, back now turned to Gavin. He looked over his shoulder. "You really think such a powerful Android would even want something to do with you? Especially someone who's against Androids?" He turned his eyes towards the covered window. "You're pathetic, have anger issues, are fake and act like someone else most of the time. You're a rat and you know it." Theo snarled.

"No, I'm not!" Gavin growled. "I'm not a rat and I know that Nines loves me. I saw his LED pink!" He lifted his hands over his head and tried to hit Theo, but the Android reached behind himself, blocking the blow.

"You really need to work on that temper." Theo tightened his grip on Gavin's arm, painfully so. Theo released Gavin and stood, turning towards the man. "It's not going to serve you any well here."

"You're gonna kill me anyway, why the hell does anything I do matter to yo-"

Theo clocked him across the face, knocking him back down into a laying position on his side. Gavin pulled his tied hands up to his face to reveal that blood was trickling out of his nose and down his chin. He wiped the blood away, but only more came running out. It was no use.

"Why don't you tell me how you got that nasty scar on your nose?" Theo questioned.

"Why do _you_ need to know?"

"Oh, I don't know." Theo clasped his hands behind his back. "It wouldn't have anything to do with your father now, would it?"

"Leave my family out of this." Gavin spat at Theo memories beginning to emerge from the back of his mind. Ones that only surfaced when he was drunk and caught of glimpse of himself in the mirror, a reflection that reminded himself of his alcoholic father.

Gavin's mind flashed back to when he was sixteen, a broken whiskey bottle swiping him across the face at the hand of his own father. He'd been hit and beaten down, begging his mother to take him with her when she left, but she couldn't bear looking into the green eyes that reflected a monster's.

"Even your own mother couldn't love you."

Gavin opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Tears stung at his eyes, but he fought them back. He couldn't forget the day his mother left, he felt beyond lost and abandoned, left with someone who acted like he hated his guts.

"You take that back." Gavin finally choked out. "He would've killed her if she didn't leave."

"Oh, is that so?" Theo questioned. "You know, she could have easily taken you with her, but she just didn't want to."

"How the hell do you know all this?" Gavin growled, still holding back his tears. "Why are you even bringing this up?"

"What's more fun that bringing up someone's embarrassing past?" Theo said. "Especially when they're from someone as pathetic as you."  
At this point, Gavin was beginning to feel broken down, vulnerable, and quite frankly, scared out of his mind. These Android's were going to kill him on a whim and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He couldn't even fight them. He would just have to sit there and take what they dished out.

"You need to stop." Gavin growled, trying to keep up his tough exterior the best he could. "You don't have any right to be doing this."

"I'll stop when I'm damn well and ready." Theo's hand shot forward and fingers wrapped around Gavin's throat, squeezing tightly. "I've got every right to say these things, and you deserve to hear all of it."

Theo clenched his fingers just a tad tighter around Gavin's throat then released, letting his arm fall to his side while Gavin gasped for air. Any tighter and he felt like Theo would have crushed his windpipe.

"And what about poor, poor Andrew?" Theo questioned.

"What about him?"

"You killed him in cold blood instead of letting Nines take the bullet."

"You didn't give me much of a choice." Gavin let out a deep breath. "I didn't _want_ to kill him."

"Oh, but you did." Theo's brows raised. "You killed someone's father, husband, son, the list goes on." He grinned. "You took away someone's entire world because you were too attached to an Android."

"Doesn't that give me some sort of credit? I didn't kill one of your kind!"

Theo laughed, throwing his head back dramatically. "You really think that's going to make any difference in what we do to you?" There was a _shing_ of something metal and before Gavin could even recognize the sound, he had a knife to his throat. Gavin lifted his chin, trying to create some distance between himself and the blade, but in doing so, he bared his neck even more.

"Don't do this." Gavin choked out. "You're going to regret it."

"Regret it?" Theo questioned. "I highly doubt that. I've been waiting to get to your name on the hit list for a _long_ time."

"I'm not _on_ the hit list."

"Not on the one Nines found." Theo pressed the knife against Gavin's skin, threatening to spill blood. "You really think we're dumb enough to keep the entire list in one spot?"

Gavin swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing dangerously close to the knife. He closed his eyes preparing himself for what was to come. It was obvious that Theo was about to slit his throat. His life was about to be over and all he could do was keep his damn eyes shut.

Before the knife got a chance to break his skin, there was a knock on the door, his saving grace. Both Theo and the other, taller Android froze in their place. The taller Android turned around slowly as Theo pulled Gavin to the ground to the side of the bed so that they wouldn't be seen.

As soon as the Android pulled the door open slightly, the door was kicked in so hard that it knocked the Android into the wall. Flaming blue eyes glared into the room, scanning it for any traces of life. The tall Android raised a fist at the blue eyed android, but he simply grabbed the taller Androids hair and with all his might, snapped his neck. The heavy body fell towards the ground and Nines stepped over it without a care in the world.

"Nines!" Gavin cried out as he dipped his head above the bed. Theo tugged him back down before standing himself and pulling Gavin up, holding the knife to his throat again.

"Take another step and he's dead."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I'm not dead and I'm not abandoning this story! I've just had a ton of writer's block as well as some other things going on. I'm hoping to finish this story up before Nanowrimo but in case I don't there might be a little pause before it finishes. Hope you all enjoy this chapter! There's one more to come.

Nines froze, debating on going for the gun in his holster. Seconds felt like minutes as the blade was pressed tighter against Gavin's throat. Nines' heart was pounding out of his chest as he calculated his next move.

"You shouldn't lie." Theo began to Nines. "Saying that you love this...this thing."

"Don't you dare talk about my partner like that." Nines growled. "You will unhand him now, or things aren't going to end very pretty for you." The anger that rose in Nines' chest was so off character. It didn't feel like him, but his heart raged at Theo.

"Oh, what are you going to do? Try and shoot me?"

Nines stayed silent, his LED flickering to yellow then back to blue. This was indeed a dire moment. Nines slowly placed his hand over his gun, staring Theo straight in the eyes. "Maybe." Was Nines' response. The knife across Gavin's neck finally broke the skin and trickles of blood began to cover the blade.

"Please don't do this." Gavin begged, causing Theo's eyes to break from Nines for a split second, and in that moment Nines drew his gun and took the shot, grazing Gavin's ear in the process but shooting Theo right through the eye.

The Android dropped to the ground, along with the knife. Gavin quickly rose a hand to his neck to assess the damage, luckily it was only superficial, nothing too deep. However, His ear rang terribly from the bullet hissing by. Nines quickly ran to Gavin and wrapped him in a hug, eyeing Theo to make sure he was indeed dead.

"Are you okay?" Were the first words out of Nines' mouth after the gun fired. "Are you hurt?"

"Yeah..." Gavin paused. "My leg." Gavin limped over to the bed and sat down. "Are you sure that motherfucker's dead?"

"Yes, I'm positive he won't be getting up from that."

"Good." Gavin replied, then his voice lowered. "He knew a lot of shit about my past. Stuff I didn't know anyone else knew." Gavin scrunched his nose. "I don't know how he knew..." He huffed as Nines rolled up his pant leg to assess the wound. Blood was still dripping from it, but nothing life threatening.

"We've got to get the bullet out-"

"Oh hell no you don't!"

"Let me finish, Gavin." Nines said sternly. "Not here. We're going to have to take you to the ER to get your wounds taken care of and make sure the bullet isn't lodged in your femoral artery."

"That sounds bad."

"You could bleed to death if that's the case."

Gavin shuddered, he had death on the mind most of the night, but when Nines said it aloud it became all too real.

"Can you walk?" Nines questioned, eyebrows furrowed in concern. The very though that his partner could have been dead moments ago struck a chord deep inside him.

"Barely." Gavin replied, then paused. "You got electrocuted earlier." Gavin lifted his head to make eye contact with Nines. "How did you get back up from that? Like, are you okay?"

"I'm a war machine." Nines said flatly. "It takes a lot to kill me."

"That's true." He tried to stand, but staggered on his injured leg. The adrenaline was wearing off and the pain was starting to throb throughout his entire leg. Gavin groaned and grabbed at the wound, hand getting fresh blood on it in the process.

"You're bleeding again, you shouldn't stand." Nines said taking a step towards Gavin. "I'll carry you."

"No, I don't need you to carry me." Gavin did his best to stand without wobbling or showing pain, but the grimace on his face gave it away easily. "I can do it myself."

Nines sighed, bent his legs slightly to get on Gavin's level and scooped him up over his shoulder, resting his hand firmly on Gavin's backside.

Gavin lifted his head and looked over his shoulder. "Are you for real taking this opportunity just to touch my ass?"

"...Perhaps..."

"You perv." Gavin said without any sting to his words and a smirk on his face. "That LED pink again?" He teased wiggling his hips slightly.

"No, it is not." Nines descended down the stairs swiftly, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Theo hadn't gotten back up and followed them. He knew the Android was dead, but the paranoia was still there. "And stop moving, your going to make your injury worse."

"Eh, it's already as bad as it's gonna get." Gavin let his upper body slump against Nines' back, bobbing slightly as the Android walked.  
"I literally just told you that you could bleed out from this if the bullet comes loose." Nines furrowed his brows in frustration as he opened the passengers side door. "Tourniquets aren't the most comfortable and I don't want to have to give you one while I rush you to the ER."

"Yikes." Gavin paused. "Fair enough."

Nines gently lowered Gavin into the seat and let him buckle up. Once they started driving down the road Nines asked. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm just in shock I think." Gavin shrugged. "Thought I was going to have my throat slit a few minutes ago and now I'm back somewhere safe." He took a deep breath. "It's such a contrast, you know?"

"I understand." Nines replied.

"I just have this eerie feeling that he's just not gone for good." Gavin poked at his wound and grimaced.

"Don't mess with it." Nines said sternly, then paused. "And yes, I know what you mean. With him coming back the first time, it makes me nervous."

Nines being nervous was a red flag for Gavin. If this 'war machine' of an Android was nervous then he for certain should be nervous. Gavin's head fell back against the headrest of the seat and turned to look at Nines.

"You don't think he'll come back again, do you?" Gavin's eyebrows furrowed.

Nines stayed quiet, the car completely silent aside from the clicking of the blinker as they turned the corner of the street. "I don't know." He finally said. "I really don't. But I'll keep you safe this time."

"How can you guarantee that?" Gavin sighed before turning to look out his window. "I saw what they did to you back at my apartment. They took you down easily."

"I won't let this happen to you again." Nines' grip on the steering wheel tightened. "I failed you once, I will not fail you again." He let out a shaky breath LED bright red. "I really fucked up and you payed the price for it." He enunciated his swear strongly.

"Nines..." Gavin trailed off. "It's not your fault."

The Android took a deep breath, letting his grip on the steering wheel loosen. Gavin could tell that his remorse was strong. Nines felt like he needed to be the one to protect Gavin and he wasn't able to. He failed, and in Nines' mind, that was unacceptable.

"I'll get upgrades that make it to where I'm shockproof. I'll do better, I promise." Nines said, voice desperate, as if Gavin would threaten to leave him if he didn't improve himself somehow someway.

"Nines." Gavin said firmly, reaching over to place a hand on the Android's leg. "It's okay." He paused. "I'm okay."

Nines' posture relaxed at Gavin's touch. Nines looked over at his companion for a brief moment, then his eyes found the road once more. The Android swallowed hard, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. The very thought that he almost lost Gavin was too much for him to bear.

Nines took one hand off the steering wheel and placed it on top of Gavin's, wrapping his finger's around his partner's hand.

"You know I love you." Nines said voice shaky as his eyes shifted to Gavin.

"Yeah, I know." Gavin smiled softly. "I love you too." There was a long pause as Gavin's face displayed confusion. Not at Nines' statement, but something else. He felt...Really cold throughout his entire body. He reached down to touch his leg and when he pulled it back his entire palm was coated in blood. "Nines...I'm bleeding... a lot." His words began to slur near the end, then his head hit the headrest as his body fell limp.

"The bullet dislodged..." Nines said to himself more than anyone. "Hold on, Gavin, can you hear me?" He paused, waiting for a response. "Gavin? Gavin!" Nines reached a hand over onto Gavin's shoulder and shook him hard only to have his head loll to the side.

" _Fuck_." Nines cursed as he swerved the car onto the side of the road, stopping faster than what would be considered a 'comfortable' slowdown. Nines quickly undid his belt and pulled it out of the looped before leaning over to wrap it around Gavin's leg, tightening it as fast and as tight as he could.

"Hold on, Gavin. You're going to be okay." Nines sped back onto the road. "I just need you to wake up." He paused. "Please wake up!" He yelled voice becoming more and more desperate, but there was no response from his partner.

" _Wake up_!"


End file.
